Endoscopy is a well known medical procedure that allows relatively noninvasive exploration and surgical procedures to be conducted within a patient while transmitting an image from within the patient to a monitor that is viewed by the surgeon or other medical personnel. A conventional endoscope includes an elongated scope body that is inserted into a body lumen or passageway and a handle that controls insertion of the scope body. A fiber optic sensor or video camera chip is disposed at the distal end of the elongated scope body, for transmitting an image of the body passageway to a monitor or video screen.
An instrument channel extends through the elongated scope body to receive different types of medical instruments or accessories used to perform the medical procedures within the patient's body. The medical instruments that are commonly used with endoscopes include, but are not limited to, foreign body graspers, wire snares, biopsy forceps, retrieval baskets, cautery tools, probes and other similar medical instruments or accessories. The endoscope allows the operator to observe the medical instrument in the body passageway during the medical procedure without having to perform invasive general surgery on the patient. Endoscopes are used for a number of different types of procedures including, but not limited to, gastrointestinal endoscopy, bronchoscopy, cystoscopy and laparoscopy.
The elongated medical instruments used with endoscopes present a number of problems to hospitals and other health care facilities. Initially the medical instruments were designed to be reusable. Although reusing the instruments appeared to be cost effective to the hospital or health care facility, the necessary repeated cleanings and reprocessing of the reusable instruments has been a problem. The elongated structure and the inability to disassemble the medical instruments make it particularly difficult to access the channels and other areas to be cleaned within the medical instrument. In order to effectively clean the medical instruments and to take advantage of the maximum number of uses from each instrument, the health care facility must train and control the medical personnel responsible for carrying out the extensive cleaning process. The difficulty of properly training and controlling the medical personnel responsible for cleaning and reprocessing the medical instruments lowers the confidence level in the sanitation of the instruments.
In an attempt to eliminate the problems associated with cleaning these reusable medical instruments, disposable or "single-use" medical instruments were designed. The disposable medical instruments, however, created a number of additional problems related to the proper disposal of medical waste. The health care facility must now control the proper disposal of these disposable or "single-use" devices, which involves additional costs as well as the ecological impact of medical waste disposal.
As a result of the increased medical waste and costs associated with disposal, many medical facilities began reusing the disposable or "single-use" devices. These disposable medical instruments, however, are not designed for reuse and are more easily worn and damaged if used more than once, possibly causing complications during use. Additionally, properly cleaning such devices is a serious problem and concern.
One type of medical instrument commonly used with an endoscope or the like is a biopsy forceps device. The conventional biopsy forceps device includes an elongated outer body portion made of a stainless steel coil, an inner stainless steel actuation cable extending within the outer body, and a head assembly disposed at a distal end of the outer body and inner cable. The head assembly includes jaws coupled to the inner cable with a clevis and 2 links to allow the jaws to be opened and closed by movement of the inner cable relative to the outer body portion. The typical biopsy forceps head assembly is soldered or brazed to the outer body and cannot be disassembled for cleaning and/or replacement. If one component of the biopsy forceps device is damaged, the medical facility must dispose of the entire device or return the device to the manufacturer for repair. The soldering or brazing of the head assembly components also causes annealing of the stainless steel material in the outer body coil, resulting in a susceptibility to kinks and therefore decreasing the usable life of the biopsy forceps device.
Another disadvantage of the conventional biopsy forceps devices is the connection of the jaws to the clevis and two links that are used to open and close the jaws. The clevis is typically attached by being soldered or brazed to the actuation cable extending within the outer body portion. The heat generated by the soldering or brazing causes annealing in the stainless steel actuation cable, resulting in cable breakage and a decreased usable life of the biopsy forceps device. The links of the biopsy forceps device also typically become lodged with debris, causing the physician to use a greater force to operate the device and eventually damaging the device. The clevis and links also inhibit the fluid passage through the outer jacket and prevent adequate cleaning of the device. Attempts at eliminating the clevis and links have resulted in a biopsy forceps device that is more easily damaged and not able to be reused.
Another problem with existing medical instruments is the excessive wear caused by inserting and moving the medical instrument through the instrument channel of the endoscope, which is often an articulated endoscope having a bend. Damage to the endoscopes by these medical instruments or accessories results in additional costs for repair and/or replacement of the endoscopes. When using the conventional biopsy forceps device, for example, the outer diameter of the outer jacket and head assembly as well as the length of the head assembly cause friction as the biopsy forceps device is pushed through the instrument channel of an endoscope or the like.
Accordingly, a need exists for a medical instrument, such as a biopsy forceps device, that can more easily be cleaned by flushing with a fluid and reused without being worn and damaged. The need also exists for a medical instrument, for use with an endoscope or other similar medical device, that is designed to be more easily pushed through the instrument channel in the endoscope or the like without causing excessive wear and damage to the endoscope.